


Cotton & Thread

by RemiPoemHunter



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Australet789, Hoodies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-09-25 08:14:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20373562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RemiPoemHunter/pseuds/RemiPoemHunter
Summary: HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Australet789!!! I was so pleased that she let me make a fanfic based on her amazing artwork.https://australet789.tumblr.com/post/184593595305/marichat-may-day-1-no-powers-a-prequel-to-this-i





	Cotton & Thread

**Author's Note:**

  * For [australet789](https://archiveofourown.org/users/australet789/gifts).

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Australet789!!!
> 
> Musical inspiration: Gabrielle Aplin - Please Don't Say You Love Me

A panoply of buildings lit up the magical City Of Light: the spectacular Notre Dame Cathedral, Les Invalides, Musée d'Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, and the Louvre. It was humming with life tonight. Sunset dinner cruises floated down the Seine, couples strolled from old cobblestone streets down to twilit secret gardens, musicians of cozy restaurants played “_La vie en rose_,” young talented DJs got crowds moving, and tourists and vendors crowded below the wrought-iron Eiffel Tower, where the beam Ladybug and Chat Noir stood on was wet from a dash of rain, and the wind blew hard and cold and froze their faces.

As darkness fell Ladybug stomped her feet, hugging herself tightly and gazing out at the tangled streets below where all the lights from the cars and buildings sparkled like reflections of the stars. It was breathtaking, no matter how many times she'd seen it, but tonight her mind was lost in her sewing project: two and a half meters of soft pink cotton and fluffy white inner lining waited to be creatively stitched into a warm hoodie for her to jump into after pale winter nights out.

"I think we should call it a night Chaton," she said, her breath steaming in the night air beside him, the thin puffs quickly wiped away by the wind. They had been on patrol for one and a half hours and all they ended up doing was escorting a group of drunk people into taxis, but the time next to her dork of a partner was worth it. It was always worth it.

Chat leaned on his baton beside her, a bright smile curling on his lips, "I think you're right M'Lady. There is someone I want to see tonight."

"Got a hot date?" She laughed. The fresh smell of rain hung on the air as she took her yo-yo in hand, looking at the cars in the streets that moved along like little fireflies.

A long silence followed her lightheartedness. She turned, eyebrows raised, "Chat?"

The golden light of the tower shone on the tiny droplets of drizzle that had settled on his windswept blond locks. His lips parted slightly, his green eyes, dazzling, grew dark and hooded. Ladybug felt her cheeks flush. Why was he looking at her like that? Her heart skipped a beat, thoughts and breath swept away by the deep warmth of all that he was, bare for only her to see.

His voice was low, but she could hear the devotion in his tone, "My Lady, you know you're the only one I—"

"Please don't," her voice broke.

She turned before she could see the look on his face and dropped out of sight.

* * *

Heavy rain poured and poured, clattering against Marinette's windows for as long as her immaculate room was a mess. Curling tracing paper was rolled out across the floor. Pencils, tape measure, scissors, and offcuts of paper were laid across most of the room without any order and she couldn't find it in herself to care.

"When it's Ladybug," Marinette said lifelessly, eyes glazed over the patterns in front of her, "it's like she's the only star in the night sky, but Marinette... she's just..." she closed her eyes as a hot tear dropped to the paper.

"You're the same person, Marinette," Tikki soothed softly. She knew Marinette understood she was being unreasonable, but that didn't make it easier or stop the tears rolling down her cheeks as soon as she dropped in from her terrace and pulled on her thickest woolen jumper.

"But wort of all, I hurt him."

The little kwami flew to her cheek to give a kiss, gently wiping her tears away.

"Thanks, Tikki," she smiled softly, warmly nuzzling her cheek-to-cheek.

A thump from above startled them apart.

"Chat Noir," Tikki mouthed, quickly phasing through a drawer. Marinette hastily wiped her eyes and neatened out the mess as best she could.

"It's open!" she called up.

A soaking Chat dropped down, hastily closing the skylight before the torrent of rain drenched her bed. He jumped to the floor with grace, a smile curling his lips.

Marinette gave a wan smile.

"Hello purrincess," he grinned, raindrops dripping off his eyelashes. He shook his hand through the darkened golden hair plastered to his face.

Marinette made a noise of protest as the raindrops landed on her patterns. "How long have you been in the rain?" she frowned, collecting the paper off the floor.

His silence became noticeable. "A while," he eventually said.

She stopping her fussing and studied him. His expression was unreadable, blinking through the water dripping from his hair into his eyes.

_Had he been out there ever since I left him?_ She wondered. A shiver ran up his spine and her heart sank deeper than the Seine.

"Wait here," Marinette instructed, lifting open her hatch. The smell of popcorn for their family's movie night came from the kitchen below as she nearly tripped off the last stair, bounding for the bathroom where she grabbed her fluffy light-pink towel off the heated towel rail and skidded out, losing her balance and loudly headbutting a wall.

"Woah! careful there," her father's voice cautioned. "What's the rush sweetie?"

Rubbing her head with a wince, she peered into the kitchen. Her father was sorting through seasoning on the counter, a large bowl of popcorn in front of him. "I— I uh, I'm very busy with someone— something! Start movie night without me!" Marinette spluttered, sprinting up the stairs to her room.

Chat sat on her floor, the side of his mouth quirked up in amusement as she closed and locked the hatch. "Well, that's one way of telling them I'm here," he teased, narrowly catching the towel she tossed him.

Marinette crossed the room in search of her hairdryer. She giggled softly when she heard deep, rumbly purring.

"I thought you'd like it," she grinned, meeting his bright eyes as they reappeared from under the fluffy pink towel. "It was on a heated towel rail."

Her drawers were becoming hard to open, full of material, lace, thread, zips, and jars of buttons. She would need to find a new place to keep everything if she and her mother kept visiting the fabric store as often as they did. Eventually, the right drawer opened with a rough yank.

"Ah, there you—" She began before dropping the appliance back in the drawer. "Chat?"

He hugged her from behind, his chin rested over her shoulder, cold wet hair brushing her neck. She could smell the damp leather of his suit and the slightest scent of lavender shampoo. "Your eyes are red. You've been crying." His voice was soft against the pelting rain. "I'm sorry, I didn't see until I wiped my face properly."

Her throat felt too dry, and his breath brushed her ear too warm. "You don't need to tell me why," he murmured, "but I'm always going to be here to listen. You know that, don't you?" The tenderness in his voice brought a quiet sob from her throat. What was there to say? How she's more spellbound by him in the pink of her room than when he is standing on the Eiffel Tower, silhouetted by the stars? How much she loves the way her real name falls from his lips? How it breaks her heart that he doesn't love her as Marinette? Or how she had just hurt him by rejecting the love he gave Ladybug? If he knew would he forgive her? Would he understand?

Marinette took a deep, steadying breath before she placed her hand on his and turned around in the circle of his arms. His green eyes rested on her with a look of firm affection.

She smiled softly and booped his nose. "I know. Thank you kitty."

He returned her smile and held her gaze before looking back to the mess of paper and materials on the floor. "What are you doing?"

"I'm making myself a hoodie."

"That's amazing." His eyes grew wide, wonder in his face. "Will you show me what it looks like when you're done?"

"Of course," she grinned, plugging the hairdryer into an extension cord.

Marinette sat down on her chaise and motioned to the floor in front of her. He eyed the appliance but followed. It came to life with a dull roar, hot air soon melting him away into a happy puddle. She threaded her fingers through his tresses, giggling softly as he turned his head about, favoring the area behind his neck and top of his ears. As his hair dried it shone like molten gold, the sort of gold Adrien had. It had been a while since she moved on from her crush, but she still had a deep fondness for him.

When she turned the hairdryer off she heard the purring low in Chat's throat. _Silly kitty_, she smiled to herself.

Her fingers massaged his scalp lazily, treading through the warm poof of fluff, gently playing with his cat ears, a wide smile growing on her face. He seemed to like the attention, his purring rumbling loudly as he leaned back against her legs. And then his stomach rumbled louder.

"Hungry, Chaton?" Marinette teased, getting up despite his whine at the loss of attention.

"Maybe," he admitted reluctantly.

"I'll be right back," she winked and disappeared below the hatch.

* * *

Chat loved Marinette's home. It was small but held more love in it than any building could. During the day the sweet and yeasty smell of the bakery would flood out and fill the street. Even after hours, the aroma could be smelt in the house. Now it smelled of popcorn. His stomach rumbled again.

Marinette reappeared from her trapdoor with a large bowl of popcorn in one hand and a DVD case in the other.

"Movie night?" He asked, taking the bowl from her hand.

"You know it," she smiled, waving _How To Train Your Dragon 2_ in front of him.

"And you know me," Chat grinned.

As Marinette set the movie up, Chat cleared her work out the way and found pillows and a blanket, arranging them on the floor facing the screen. He plopped down and munched on the popcorn.

As the movie started Marinette hooked her smallest finger through Chat's. He looked over at her with a soft smile. It was a habitual gesture of hers, one that he had grown used to over the last few years. Sometimes, when they were out together with friends, he found himself putting his hand out beside her as Adrien—just to quickly withdraw it and play it off.

Chat couldn't count the number of times he'd watched the _How To Train Your Dragon_ movies. He could almost recall each word. He loved to watch the love between Hiccup and Astrid, but tonight it just felt like an unreachable fantasy. Still shivering slightly from his time in rain-drenched contemplation, his mind was brought back to Ladybug's heartbroken face when she rejected his proclamation of love, again. He couldn't handle seeing how much rejecting him hurt her. He had to move on for both their sakes. But while he and Marinette were no Astrid and Hiccup, they did have a similar banter and affection, one he wouldn't trade for anything.

As if sensing his thoughts, Mari leaned against him. He looked over fondly, squeezing her smallest finger. Somewhere inside him, he wished he could feel the warmth of her fingers without the gloves on his hand, because when her fingers were entwined with his, somehow life seemed to make more sense.

They watched the movie in silence and the comfort of each other's company. Silence broken when Stoick and Valka reunited and Chat's whistled along with the beefy man.

"You can whistle?" Marinette laughed, lightly throwing him a piece of popcorn he caught with his mouth. "I'm impressed."

Chat grinned, whistle drifting away to the soft sweet words Stoick sang. "I’ll swim and sail on savage seas with ne'er a fear of drowning. And gladly ride the waves of life if you will marry me. No scorching sun, nor freezing cold will stop me—" His eyes turned mischievous before he interrupted himself with a grin, "WILL STOP ME ON MY JOUR—ney. Sorry."

Marinette tried to imitate Stoick's disgruntlement but the corner of her lips tugged upward.

"If you will promise me your heart. And love..." Chat drifted off, waggling his eyebrows at her expectantly.

She bit her lip, singing with soft laughter in her voice, "And love me for eternity." He beamed, pulling her to her feet as she continued, "My dearest one, my darling dear, your mighty words astound me." She raised her arm at her elbow and Chat pushed against it with his own then switched directions. "But I’ve no need of mighty deeds when I feel your arms around me."

"But I would bring you rings of gold," Chat sung, jumping legs to touch her heels, "I'd even sing mew poetry!" He got down on one knee and led her behind him to hop over his leg.

"Oh, would mew?" she laughed.

"And I would keep you from all harm if you would stay beside me!" Chat twirled her in his arms.

"I have no use for rings of gold, I care not for your poetry. I only want your hand to hold," Marinette laughed as he spun her.

"I only want you near me!"

"To love and kiss, to sweetly hold! For the dancing and the dreaming! Through all life’s sorrows and delights, I’ll keep your laugh inside me! I’ll swim and sail on savage seas with ne'er a fear of drowning! And gladly ride the waves of life—"

Neither knew who tripped who when they both crashed to the floor.

"_If you will marry me_," Stoick and Valka finished on screen.

Chat hovered over Marinette, his hand just quick enough to cushion the back of her head from hitting the hardwood floor. Popcorn from the turned-over bowl found its way into Marinette's hair. Her lips moved as if to speak, but no sound came out as she stared wide eyes into his. He meant to move too, but deep blue eyes held him transfixed. Had he never seen her eyes before? They were beautiful, godly, so full of sparkling depth and love and... Marinette was looking like she forgot how to breathe... 

"S-Sorry!" Chat stammered, stumbling back to his place on the cushions, his face on fire. Marinette sat up swiftly, looking determinately at the screen, a blush dusting her freckles.

For the rest of the movie and sometime after, Chat's mind was dizzily brought back to the depth of a dazzling blue he longed to see more of.


End file.
